25 days of what we'll remember
by leviadrache
Summary: It's the small things that stay in your mind. When your best friend throws a snowball at you and somwhow, both of you end up freezing and wet. When you forget to kiss the person you love and can't think about anything else for days. Or when another friends punches your face. [Kai/Aichi/Ren and various other ships]
1. Hot Chocolate

**notes:** somewhere in september, i started thinking about doing this 25 days christmas challenge. most of it was written in november and i still got a bunch of unfinished chapters (or ones I haven't even started yet), but uhm yeah. here we go

set about a year after legion mate events, in the winter before the last two eps. while the main ship for this fic is aichi/kai/ren (including each variation), there are several other ships as well

characters: [Aichi, Kai], Misaki, Naoki, Shingo

_Aichi wants to know if he loves the person Kai is, or the person he sees in Kai? He also wants to know what's the difference between them._

* * *

><p>"Ishida, put your hands somewhere else. Now."<p>

"Didn't you pay attention during class? There are many ways to learn something, Shingo. That's one of them."

"I know but does that have to include touching ME?"

Aichi hesitates, when Shingo slaps Naoki's hand away. "Guys, I think you should calm down."

"So you agree with me, Sendou-kun? Ishida is _way_ too intrusive."

"Uhm, Shingo-kun, that's not what I meant-"

"Told ya. Of cause Aichi agrees with me."

"Naoki-kun, I-"

He sighs as he gets interrupted by Shingo once again. They're in the club room, building a model for biology, to 'cement what they learned into their brain' as their teacher puts it. Because it's easier to do that by involving different senses: listening, speaking, seeing, smelling and of cause, _touching_.

Though not even Aichi understands why that suddenly includes having to touch each other.

"Aren't you playing Vanguard today?" Misaki shuts the door behind herself and looks at Aichi, taking the wise decision to not interrupt Naoki and Shingo. Aichi rubs the back of his neck.

"Ah, well, we thought we could finish this project before you come, but that didn't work out."

She shrugs and sits down next to Aichi. Making a model for the protein biosynthesis is harder than it sounds. It doesn't help that Shingo wants to include every single detail to make it more 'scientifically accurate' and Naoki keeps suggesting ways to make the model more interesting ("As much as I hate to break this to you, Naoki-kun, but we can't add explosion to our homework."). To make everything worse, they argue about the most minor things, like whether Guanin or Adenin should be green.

Aichi feels like his only job in this group is to keep the other two from killing each other. Needless to say, he really enjoys doing this project with his friends. Despite everything, he knows the other two do as well.

"Kourin's busy this week and if we're not doing any club activities, there's no need to stay here, huh?" Misaki says. "Because there's this new café in the mall Yuri told me about and I think we could check it out."

There's nothing to argue about. Sooner than they realize, they're on their way to the mall and Aichi's phone vibrates in his pocket, which is _weird_. It's not that he has few friends, it's that only a few of them regularly text him. Since two of them are with him now and Miwa is at work, he can only think of one person.

[Where are you?]

15:17

[on the way to the mall. is something wrong kai-kun?]

15:18

He types as he walks, but careful not to bump into anyone. When he's done, he shoves the phone back into his pocket. Misaki occasionally comments on what Naoki says and Aichi laughs more than just a few times, as they talk about casual things. Shortly before they arrive at the mall, Aichi gets his phone out to make sure he didn't miss any message.

Although it says Kai was online just a few minutes ago, there's no response to his message. Ah well, whatever. He'd say something if it was important.

But well, sometimes, Aichi wishes Kai was a bit more, uhm, considering. A little more careful about the things he says and the things he does. He wishes Kai would speak more quiet, with less force in his voice. When he leaves, Aichi wants him to stop slamming the door shut and when he plays Vanguard, Aichi wants him to look at his opponent and not just simply at his cards.

Not that he actually minds. He accepts Kai, of cause he does, but now that they're dating, he wishes Kai would act more. Well, he doesn't know.

The shop Misaki takes them to is more crowded than he expected. They sit down and she orders a coffee for herself and three times hot chocolate for the boys. Just when they get their drinks, Aichi's phone vibrates again.

[Meet me at the fountain next to the mall. I've something to say]

15:41

"Uhm, guys, I think I need to excuse myself for a moment."

"Is everything all right? Did something happen?" Naoki looks very worried. Aichi shakes his head.

"No, it's okay. Kai just wants to meet up with me."

"Oh," Naoki turns to Shingo and makes a face. "Boyfriend things," he says and Shingo responds with a meaningful look. Aichi tilts his head. But when he opens his mouth, Misaki interrupts him.

"Don't forget your drink and don't worry, I'll pay. Just go ahead." She thrusts the cup with hot chocolate into his hand. Aichi nods.

The fountain is inside the building, so it doesn't take him much time to get there. Kai's already there. Still in his school uniform and with his arms crossed, he looks like he always does and Aichi wonders if he'll ever change. When he spots Aichi, his frown fades briefly and he looks at the cup in Aichi's hands.

When Kai frowns again, it almost bothers him.

Funny, right? Because Kai always does and hey, why does it bother Aichi anyway. He didn't mind before, but maybe now, he wishes Kai would smile more often. Just a little bit more often would help, really. _Just because we're dating now doesn't mean I can make him the way I want him to be_, he keeps telling himself. _That's how he is and I accept him._

"What's that?"

"Hot chocolate from the new café here. Want to try?"

Kai shrugs, but takes the cup Aichi hands to him. When he takes a sip and shows no intention whatsoever to give the it back, Aichi regrets that he left the café so hurriedly and didn't take the time to take a sip himself. It has smelled really nice.

See, that kind of bothers him, too. But he doesn't tell Kai to give the cup back.

Wordlessly, he sits down on the small bench next to Kai. The other takes a second long sip from the cup. Then, as if he can hear Aichi's thoughts, he hands it back to Aichi.

"Tastes good."

"Hmm," Aichi agrees, pretending he knows how it tastes. Just to cover the fact that he doesn't, he lifts the cup to his lips and drinks some of the hot liquid. Which is indeed still really hot. He flinches and quickly lowers the cup. Unsurprisingly, he spills some of it on himself.

Kai raises an eyebrow , but doesn't say anything, so Aichi decides to do the same. It's a game two can play. It's not like he's the one who said he wants to tell the other something, so yeah.

Aichi just looks at Kai expectantly for a minute or two while the older stares ahead of them. Then Kai turns back to him and he frowns again. He places two fingers on the corner of his lips.

"You've got chocolate there."

"Oh, really," with the back of his hand, Aichi wipes it away. "Better?"

Frowning, Kai looks at him intently and his face is getting closer and closer to Aichi's. There are so many people around them and surely some of them have noticed them, sitting so uncomfortably close next to each other, with their faces even closer to each other. Does Kai even realize?

"Uhm," Aichi tries, backing away a little, "so what is the thing you wanted to tell me?"

For a moment, it looks like Kai wants to move his face even closer to Aichi. Lifting his right hand, it comes closer and closer to Aichi's face until -

Kai wipes something off Aichi's face with his sleeve. "There was still some chocolate on your cheek." He finally backs away and Aichi takes a deep breath.

"So?"

"Ah, about that." Kai pauses and frowns again.

For a split of a second, Aichi wants to tell him to stop doing that all the time, but the urge fades away quickly. He's way more curious to find out what Kai wants to tell him. Maybe it's something important. Maybe it's something embarrassing. Whatever it is, he doesn't want to say something wrong and risk that Kai might not tell him about it.

It's a good chance to learn more about Kai after all.

"I just wanted to know if you already got something for Ren's birthday."

There might be different ways to learn something. He's sure there is thrice as much he still has to learn about Kai.


	2. Pastries

_That feel when your friends obsession with puns is ruining your relationship._

* * *

><p>"Don't worry Kai. If they make you play the trombone, I'll slam the oven door. Really, it's okay."<p>

"Miwa, you're not helping. Just shut up."

Next to him, Miwa stops laughing and shrugs. "Hey, it's not like this is my fault. _You_ are the one who felt too cool to sign up for any activity for the school festival. _You_ thought applying for nothing would work. So _you_ are the one you should blame for this happening."

Kai shoves his hands into the pockets of his jacket, although he starts to feel rather hot. He wants to leave this noisy and stuffy building already. He can't imagine that anyone in the last twenty years ever considered to air this shop, or at least it doesn't seem like that. What does Miwa like about their food again?

Standing in the line to buy something in that popular bakery is not something he's ever done before. He usually bakes bread himself or gets normal toast, but Miwa insisted to come here during their free period today.

So here they are.

They're silent for a while. When it's their turn, Miwa orders two, uhm, something that looks like buns for them, since Kai has no idea what to get. He doesn't need to say it though, because Miwa just goes ahead and orders for both of them.

The bakery only seems to sell European pastries, or at least he can't see anything typically Japanese on the counter. It's probably why there are so many people. He doesn't think another bakery in the city sells things like this.

They sit down on one of the tables inside and, yeah, it's definitely getting warm in here. Kai takes of his jacket. Miwa smiles. "It's nice and warm in here, huh? Since the school's still not heating, I thought this might be a nice change."

Kai nods and regards the bun in front of him. A ball of dough, someone put in an oven. He keeps looking at it and feels Miwa looking at him, then the dough-ball, and finally back at Kai. He laughs. "It's not poisoned, you know." As if to illustrate his point, he takes a bite of his one. Then he shoots a look at Kai. "You should try it as well. It's good, I promise."

Kai raises an eyebrow, hesitates, but in the end, he takes the dough-ball. Regards it again. Miwa coughs. He takes a bite. It's soft and sweeter than he thought. Not really something he would eat for lunch, but it would probably taste nice for breakfast.

"And?"

"Hmm. It's not bad."

His reply makes Miwa happier than it should. "See." Cheerfully, he takes another bite of his own bun, before looking at Kai again. "Sooo, back to topic. About this music thing."

Kai tries to shut him up with a glare, but Miwa just raises an eyebrow. The older boy sighs. "Shut up, Miwa. I'm eating."

"So am I," shoving the rest of his food into his mouth (really, how does he even manage to eat this quickly), Miwa grins at him. "What I'm trying to say is that I'll help you if you ever need something. What instrument did they sign you up for, by the way?"

"The piano."

"Great!"

"Are you serious?"

"No, I'm Severus," Miwa rolls his eyes. "Well, of cause I am. Why?"

"I fail to see what's so great about this. They're forcing me to do something I've never done before and you think that's great."

"Oh, but it is. I know someone who can teach you how to play the piano. It'll be a piece of cake, don't worry."

"Who?"

"Aichi."

"Uhm, Miwa," Kai says, not really sure if his friend understands what his actual problem is. "I'm not going to lean anything, because I'm _not_ going to be part of this whole school festival thing."

"Uhm, Kai," Miwa raises an eyebrow. "You are an idiot."

"No, you're the idiot here," Kai says, shaking his head. Miwa shrugs.

"Whatever, but I'm _your_ idiot."


	3. Candy Cane

For some reason, Miwa starts decorating the shop on Wednesday. He arrives with two cartons in his arms and after he taking his apron on, he goes to the small chamber in the back of the shop to get a ladder, so now, he's busy with hanging up various kinds of decorations. Misaki, who watched for quiet a while, considers asking him what all the fuss is about, but then decides to ignore him. It's Shin's shop after all and if Miwa wants to decorate it, there's no reason for her to stop him.

Since Shin used Wednesdays to buy supplies for the shop and do this kind of things, he wasn't there today. Before Miwa started working here, it meant double work for Misaki, but now it's pretty much okay, although they get more customers than in the past. Fortunately, today's a rather calm day and she can handle the bunch of customers they have on her own, while Miwa's putting garlands everywhere.

After she took care of the few customers they had today, she sits down to read. Only when Miwa gets down from the ladder, wipes away some sweat from his face with the back of his hand and approaches the counter where she's sitting, she marks the page she's on and puts the book down. She smiles.

"Done with your spring cleaning?"

Miwa looks indignant. "Nee-chan, _please_. I put all this up to ensure the right atmosphere. It's the third of December, don't you know what that means?"

"It's the day you forgot your deck in the shop last year and panicked so much, that you ended up calling me in the middle of the night. Just to make sure we didn't sell it," she blurts out.

"Don't worry, I'll tell you– hey, could you please stop remembering all the embarrassing things about me. Oh, and I'm pretty sure it wasn't _that_ late when I called." When Misaki raises an eyebrow, he rubs the back of his neck and laughs. "Ah, well maybe it was. But, that's not what I meant. Saturday is St. Nicholas Day." He bends down to pick up the second carton he brought and puts in on the counter between himself and Misaki.

"Miwa, you do realize that the things you put up there are just ordinary decorations." She points at the colourful garlands that are decorating the shop now. They really don't remind her of December or Christmas or whatever holiday Miwa is preparing for, and hey, aren't this the same ones that he used to decorate Card Capital on his birthday.

"It's better than nothing," he says and cheerfully opens the carton in front of them, probably to avoid further discussions on this topic, at least partly. Inside the carton, there's more decoration, different kinds of small figures (that look a bit more like Christmas decoration than the garlands), some ornaments (they don't even have a tree in the shop and Misaki surely is not going to spend her free weekend to go out and buy one, no matter what Miwa is about to say), and many kinds of sweets.

Wiping his hands clean on his apron, Miwa takes out two candy canes. An almost vicious smile appears on his face. "Since you're not working anyway, what about a small deal. If you help me to put up all this stuff in the shop, you're getting one of them."

"I don't want one that you've already touched."

"Huh? Why not?" He holds them out, closer to Misaki's face.

"After you were done, you just wiped your dirty and sweaty hands on your apron. You should at least wash them properly."

"Oh, come on. The nee-chan I know isn't that nitpicky. You're just being ridiculous and you–"

He is interrupted when Misaki shoves a third candy cane she just pulled out of the carton into his mouth. At first, she thinks he'll just back away or something, but instead, he actually takes a bite. "Are you trying to shut me up with that? Because if you are, it's won't work."

"Oh, I'm not. Don't speak with your mouth full."

"Hey, you totally are." Miwa exclaims and then swallows the candy. Laughing, Misaki shakes her head.

"I promise I'm not. By the way, did you know that the choirmaster who invented those candy canes was just looking for a way to make sure the children in his church would stop being so noisy."

"I did not. So what are you trying to tell me with this story?"

"Well, maybe I really was. Trying to shut you up."


	4. Naughty or Nice

When Ren finds out Kai's meeting Aichi on Thursday after school, he grins. Mostly because the two of them don't know he knows about this, Miwa just happened to know about it and happened to tell Ren about it and well. The last time he visited Aichi feels like ages ago. So when he stands in front of Aichi's door in his white school uniform with a bouquet of flowers (white lilies, of cause), he patiently waits for someone to open the door.

After about five minutes, he remembers he forgot to ring the door bell.

When he does, Aichi's mother opens the door. Dressed in a blue coat and with a bag in her left hand, she looks surprised to see him. Obviously. With one boot on her right foot and slippers on her left, Ren easily figures out that she's just about to leave. Still, she friendly greets him and lets him in. He smiles at her, wondering if he should give the flowers to her, but deciding to proceed as planned. Ah, he can't wait to see their faces.

"May I ask where Aichi-kun is?"

"Sorry, I was just about to leave, but he's in the cellar with Kai." Slipping into the second boot, she walks past Ren and out of the door. "Aichi knows where the snacks are if you're hungry. Have fun."

Thanking her, Ren smiles. Of cause they'll have fun.

Easily taking the stairs, he finds himself in a big room with clean, white walls. It's empty, except for a black piano, where he sees Kai and Aichi sitting. Until now, he never considered the Sendou family owns something like that. It seems funny to him, to be honest. Just thinking about a younger Aichi taking piano lessons, an Aichi that doesn't know anything about Vanguard. An Aichi who doesn't even care about any if them, an Aichi who probably wouldn't care about_ him_.

They're backs are facing the stairs, so they don't notice his arrival. Aichi's playing something, his fingers hushing over the keys while Kai watches them, a concentrated frown on his face. Ren smiles.

Quietly, really quietly, he steps toward them. When he's directly behind them, he doesn't waste much time to _think_ and just leans forward, wraps his left arm around Aichi's shoulder and drops the flowers he's still holding over Kai's head.

Aichi winces and moves away, while Kai just curses, saying something really impolite. Ren laughs.

"Hey guys!"

Aichi turns around to look at him, surprised,. Almost mirroring him, Kai turns to the exact opposite direction. "What are you doing here, Ren?"

"How does it come that the two of you never invite me along when you're doing something?" he asks, deliberately ignoring what Kai said and only looks at Aichi instead. He makes a show of pouting. "I feel _soooo_ left out."

"Oh, it's nothing you should feel left out about. I'm just helping Kai for this project."

"That's really nice of you, Aichi-kun." For some reason, he enjoys saying the other's name, so he clings to the sound of each syllable for a while, tries to stress each of them as much as possible. "Trying really hard to be a nice kid for Santa Claus I guess."

Aichi firmly shakes his head. "I don't believe him, so I'm obviously not." He looks completely honest and serious. It's odd.

"Hmmm, really?" With his hand still around Aichi's shoulder, his fingers find their way into the short blue locks. Out of the corner of his eyes, Kai shoots them a look that is neither annoyed nor pleased. A typical Kai-look, so to speak.

"Kai, do you believe in Santa-san?" Only getting some kind of growl as response, Ren smiles. HIs fingers are still tangled in Aichi's short hair. "The two of you are really boring. Who's bringing your presents on Christmas then?"

While Aichi actually seems to take Ren's questions seriously and hesitates to think of a proper response, Kai plainly blurts out "no one." Both other boys frown at that, but Kai doesn't seem to realize the meaning of what he said.

Ren's eyes search for Aichi's. When honest blue ones meet the glint in his red ones, Aichi sighs. They understand each other without words, but Ren can't tell if it's because of Psyqualia or because of them being so similar to each other or, as Aichi would put it, because of the bond of friendship connecting them. What Ren knows is that Aichi doesn't like his idea, but after another insisting look, his gaze softens in agreement.

They wrap their arms around Kai.

Though he obviously didn't expect this and hey, this is not as easy as it seems with the three of them already sitting so close to each other. It doesn't work out well, especially in combination with Kai's surprise, so they lose their balance. Which is of cause no big deal, if it wasn't for the fact that they're all sharing this small stool, that's made to be for only one person. It end, the three of them tumble to the floor.

They groan. Ren laughs and eventually, Aichi does too. It may sound somewhat hysterical, but it's not like any of them care at this point. They really don't.

It's more comfortable this way.


	5. Cookies

Friday is warm blankets and cold pizza, funny games and bad movies. Cuddling and pushing each other off the couch.

They meet at Ren's place mostly, because there's no one to interrupt them. Sure, they would be alone at Kai's place too, but Ren's feels less empty, more like home.

They always look forward to Fridays, because they're the best. And they can't help but feel sad on Fridays.

Kai brings the food, sometimes snacks he made himself, but mostly frozen pizza that he warmed up at his place and that got cold on his way to Ren. Aichi provides games that vary from board games to video games. But since Ren's the one with the money, he's the one who has all the new games and consoles, so the games Aichi brings often just end up lying around on the table.

Their other friends call their meetings 'Friday evening dates', but neither of them would use the term. Ignoring the fact that they're dating each other, it's not like they're _Dating_. Dating is good games and bad food. _Dating_ is going out for a walk and watching the sunset, it's wearing pretty clothes and smelling like roses. All they can smell in Ren's huge room is cheese and Fanta.

So when Aichi takes the last slice of tuna pizza and Kai loses another round of Smash Bros against Ren, he's pretty comfortable. Kai blames his Wii-Mote like he always does and tosses it to Aichi. They don't have three controllers, so it's winner stays in. In other words, it's alternating between Ren versus Aichi and Ren versus Kai.

Predictable games with predictable people. They're simple that way.

When Ren, who has been standing for the whole evening ("Sitting on the couch while playing is boring. You have to _feel it_," Ren said and selected Shulk for the like thirtieth time today), finally loses against Aichi, he slumps on the couch between the other two and reaches out for the pizza. His eyes never leave the screen. Only when his fingers connect with the cold plate, he looks away and pouts.

"Hey, you ate everything without me. That's mean!"

Kai shrugs. "Your fault for not paying attention to anything besides the game."

"Totally not true. I was paying attention to _you_."

"Saying things like this won't get you anywhere, Ren," Kai huffs and drop the controller. "Want to play something else? This game is already getting boring."

Aichi puts his one next to the plate and frowns. "We completed the 150cc Cups in Mario Kart last week. Do you want to go for a board game?"

"I don't know," Kai admits. He hesitates, bites his lip. Ren and Aichi don't push and wait for him to go on. Then. "I'm not sure. I just. Want to do something different? All of this," an uncoordinated gesture with his left hand, "that's not... I don't know."

"We could go and buy more food," Ren suggests. Kai makes a face.

"I've had enough pizza for the next seven months."

Ren whines. "Then why did you eat everything?"

"Well," Aichi hesitantly says. "I don't think there's a thing like 'too much pizza'."

"Wait, I thought Kai's the one who ate the pizza. Aichi-kun, did you... ?"

Instead of replying, Aichi rubs the back of his neck and that's enough of an answer for Ren to turn towards him and bury his face in Aichi's shoulder, whispering, "Aichi-kun~ I'm sure you know how repay me for eating my beloved food, huh?"

"I'm sure that's not how you talk to your beloved person, Ren-san."

"It's not too late, we could cook something else," Kai suggests. "Or go out to eat somewhere."

Both Ren and Aichi make a face at that. "I don't want to go out," Ren complains. Aichi hesitates.

"But it definitely would be a more date-y thing to do though..."

"We never said we're going on a date."

"Maybe we could," Kai says out of the blue. When the others look at him in surprise, he turns away. "It was just an idea. I mean, we always do the same things. A change might be nice."

Ren frantically shakes his head. "But I don't want change. I like it this way."

It surprises Kai, which is unusual. A change, in some way. He gets up and walks some steps towards the kitchen, but stops halfway. His back turned to the other two, he says, "I'll get us some cookies," then mumbles, but more to himself than to them, "not a change in the way you guys thought."

Ren smiles. "I like cookies, too." Kai starts walking again and Ren uses the time to wrap himself and Aichi in one of the blankets they've been sitting on. "Cookies are great on days like this, don't you think?"


	6. Sweaters or Socks

**note:** ah, for no reason, i felt kind of sad this weekend and didn't update yesterday. so this chapter was meant to be posted yesterday, but well, whatever. before kai and aichi's story goes on, here comes a chapter about asaka and misaki first!

* * *

><p>Asaka has a problem. To no one's surprise, it's Ren. Although she tries really hard not to worry, the dreaded day's getting closer and closer. Ren's birthday.<p>

Which is not really a problem on its own, but the thing is that she still doesn't have a present. Which is again not a problem if it would have been anyone else, but with Ren, it's different. He owns ten times more money than he needs and owns pretty much everything one can wish for. So she still has no idea what kind of present to get for him.

When she gets up on Saturday morning, she doesn't even bother to check the time on her phone and just turns around to lie on her side and observes the wall. Not that she can make out much of it, since it's really dark in her room. Nearly no light makes it into her room through the thick, dark curtains, which is why she can't even guess what time it is.

Probably time to get up and do something, but well.

It's warm and comfortable in her bed.

Some time later, she gets woken up from a nap she didn't mean to take and by a call she didn't expect to get. Groaning, she stretches out her hand, fumbling around in the dark to find the device she wants to toss out of the window. Though she ends up answering the call anyway.

"Morning," she mumbles, not even bothering to hide the sleepiness in her voice.

"It's noon."

"So what? Don't be so fussy." She starts feeling bits and bits more awake and she slowly sits up, leaning against the head of her bed. "What gives me the pleasure to hear your wonderful voice this early today, Misak-ki?"

"Don't say my name like that."

"You don't mind when Ren does." For some reason, she feels like grinning, which is weird, really. Misaki can't see her anyway.

"I do mind. Anyway," Misaki says. "Did you figure out what kind of present you want to get for him?"

"Uhm, well. Not really."

"Want to go shopping with us? Aichi and me waned to get the presents when I'm done with my shift today."

Asaka shrugs. "Why not?"

"'Why not?'" Misaki repeats mockingly. "Because from what I'm getting, you're still in your sleep wear with your teeth not brushed yet and messy hair. Oh wait, I forgot yours is always messy."

"Ha. Ha. Ha. Anything else you want to say or can I hang off?"

Instead of a response, Misaki just hangs up first, which makes Asaka grin once again. She puts her phone away and leans back again. Then she remembers that she forgot to check the time and sighs. Not bothering to check it on her phone, she gets up and into the bathroom. After she's done showering, she considers pulling the curtains open in her room and do her bed, but decides against it and just takes her phone and wallet and takes the elevator downstairs.

Once she's in the lobby, she pulls out her phone and goes through her messages, but quickly shoves it into her pocket again. It's shortly after twelve and Misaki called about half an hour ago. Enough time to buy something for breakfast before meeting the others.

Less than a hour later, she finds herself on the street with a freezing Aichi, grumpy Kai and Misaki. Frowning herself, she can't believe Misaki dared not to mention Kai would be there as well. Though the moment she arrives and greets them, the two boys exchange a look. They excuse themselves. From the looks Misaki shoots at them, it seems like they need to discuss something serious on their own. Not that Asaka cares though.

"So, do you have an idea what to get for him?" Misaki asks, maybe because of the lack of anything else to say. Asaka shakes her head. "What about chocolate?"

"No. It's supposed to be something more..." her voice falters. She clears her throat. "Something more personal."

"'Something more personal' like?"

"_Like_, I got no idea. Thought that's why we're here."

Misaki shoves her hands into her pockets and sighs. "Standing around won't help, huh?" Not seeing any reason to complain, Asaka agrees and they start walking through the streets, without any actual destination besides, well, nowhere. Misaki lists possible presents for Ren and Asaka shakes her head. _No, he already got four of them. - I'm not sure if he likes that. But if he did, he'd already gotten one. - That's too expensive for me, getting something like socks would fit better into my budget anyway._

At that, Misaki stops. "What did you say?"

"Oh, I forgot that sentence was probably too long and too complicated for you." Ignoring the insult, Misaki looks at her expectantly. "Uhm, just something about how I'd rather get him socks instead of, what did you suggest again."

"Socks. That's actually a good idea."

Asaka isn't sure exactly what kind of expression she had on her face when Misaki said this, but she knows it's probably not exactly keen about her suggestion.

"Socks?"

"Yeah, socks. You could try to knit some and it'd would be really personal. There, solved your problem." She says cheerfully and smiles. But not a smile solely because of happiness. It looks like there's more to it.

"I'd hate to break it to you, but I can't knit. And I'm pretty sure you can't either."

"Shin-san know how it works. We can just ask him." More of that suspicious smile. Then, Misaki grabs her hand and pulls her along. The smile turns into a smirk.

"Now that you owe me something, let's go to Card Capital. I'm sure you'd love to spend a lot of money on cards, right?"


	7. Mistletoe

hashtag don't be like kai toshiki

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><p>Sometimes when Kai finds out about things people do, he doubts their sanity even more than usual.<p>

It's not even that he deliberately overhears that conversation in the cafeteria, this group of other people just happens to sit really close to the table where he's having lunch with the other Vanguard Club members and Miwa just happens to be busy talking to Izaki and Morikawa about this movie he hasn't watched, so yeah. See? There's no way he could have wanted to listen to their conversation. Really.

"Did you know the Europe Champion fluently speaks French and Japanese? Pretty impressive, huh?"

"Hmmm, kind of. Isn't Christmas a huge deal over there? I think they prepare a lot to celebrate it."

"Yeah. They put actual trees into their houses and hang mistletoes around their place."

"Oh oh, I've heard that, too. Don't you have to kiss someone if both of you are underneath it. By the way, did you know that plants grow faster when you play classical music around them than of you'd play pop music?"

Well. There's no time bothering to think about how short those people's attention span is, because Kai just remembered he kind of has biology class after lunch. And they're writing a test. One he didn't study for.

Letting his plate and the remaining food on the table, he gets up.

"Miwa. Tell our teacher I wasn't feeling well and went home earlier," he mutters as he shoulders his bag and then turns to leave. When he's already some steps away, he hears Miwa's voice.

"Hey, Kai. You can't just go and leave me. I studied for this test and - Hey, are you listening? Kai, wait-"

Not bothering to turn around or answer Miwa, he doesn't stop walking until he's somewhere on the street some blocks away from school and he wonders where he wants to go.

Sure, getting out of school earlier means getting home earlier, but since he already ate and has nothing particular to do, he wonders if he should go somewhere else. Didn't Aichi say he has no lessons on Tuesday afternoon? That's a start at least.

As he starts to walk again and walks past a bunch of shops, all of them decorated for the upcoming holidays, he pulls out his phone from his pocket, which is harder than it sounds, considering how tight his pants and how small his pockets are. He manages it somehow and when his phone vibrates to indicate Aichi got the text (he send an usual text, because Aichi doesn't have an internet flat rate on his mobile and therefore doesn't get messages on line when he's not at home) he puts the phone into the pocket of his jacket.

A few minutes later, when Kai starts feeling cold and almost regrets he never bought a warmer jacket, his phone buzzes again. Aichi texted back. He's already at home, but he's not done eating yet, but if Kai wants to meet him there so they can go to Card Capital together later on, he wouldn't mind.

Kai frowns, then shrugs and grunts at his phone in agreement, before he remembers that Aichi can't _actually_ see or hear him through the device. Plainly sending an 'okay' back, he stuffs the phone back into his pants with some effort, then makes his way to Aichi's place.

His sister opens the door with a smile. "Aichi said you'd come," she says instead of a greeting and smiles even more. Kai nods. She takes a step to the side and gestures him to come in. As he takes his shoes off, she tells him that Aichi's upstairs. Again, he nods.

Although it doesn't look like it from outside, the Sendou house is decorated for Christmas and Kai's a bit surprised to see something like that this here, of all. He looks at the evergreens and Christmas balls hanging around. Most of them are attached to the walls and ceiling which looks pretty uh, oh, well, pretty. It kind of fits the smell of the house, a smell that's hard to describe as anything more specific than 'home'.

Emi apparently noticed him looking at the decoration. "We put all of it up this weekend. Aichi and I had some trouble to attach them to the ceiling, but luckily our mother helped us!"

"Oh, cool," he says. "I'll just go upstairs then."

Emi nods, still smiling. Taking the stairs, he keeps looking at the decoration around him. It's nice to know that Aichi's doing such simple and pretty much normal things these days, he thinks. But then he remembers Aichi has probably always lived a life like this. Kai never considered it before, but Aichi's still living the kind of life Kai used to have with his family around. When was the last time he talked to his uncle and aunt?

Lost in his thoughts, he forgets looking ahead of him and without realizing it, he bumps into someone who's running down the stairs. One moment he's normally walking and the next one he struggles to stand upright.

Just when he's about to lost his balance and fall down, the person he bumped into takes his right hand and places his other hand on the small of Kai's back to keep him from falling.

"Kai-kun? Ah, I'm sorry."

"Hi, Aichi." It's weird how he wants to scold Aichi for apologizing when he did nothing wrong, but is way too focused on the thing that's he sees hanging on the ceiling just above Aichi's head. A mistletoe.

_Don't you have to kiss someone if both of you are underneath it?_

Ridiculous.

They pull away from each other.

When he supports himself against the wall to stand properly on his own again, he remembers how much he loves the fact others can't read his thoughts.

Not sure what to say, he coughs -

but it's too late because Aichi's already looking upwards and when he sees that stupid branch, his eyes widen.

"Oh, you probably, uhm, we. Emi insisted on hanging those up, we," Aichi pauses to take a breath and suddenly, Kai feels like writing a stupid test sound really nice. "We, uh, we don't have to do anything." His face is flushed. Kai just wants it to go back to normal.

With a calm voice and a frown on his face, Kai speaks up as he shrugs once again. "Yeah, whatever."

Something about his response fortunately makes Aichi's face return back to normal, though there's just a hint of a frown on his face. Kai thinks the other's just mimicking him, but when the younger boy puts his hand on Kai's back again, he gasps. Sure, they're dating, but, oh man, Kai's not used to this and he really needs to take a step back. Aichi's way too close.

With his other hand on Kai's cheek, he pulls their faces closer to each other. Thanks to the stairs, Kai suddenly feels smaller than Aichi, which is unusual and it makes him so much more aware of, well, pretty much everything.

He wonders if Aichi feels like that all the time, but shoves that thought away when Aichi's face is so close, close, _close_ to his face. He can feel Aichi's breathing and see each of his long eyelashes and yeah.

He realizes his body is moving closer to Aichi's lips as well. Suddenly, although he has no idea what's happening, he's surprised to find himself less bothered by this than he should be.

The smell of the house fits to the way Aichi's smells and with the other's warm breath on his face, Kai remembers how cold the air outside was.

"Aichi! Mum's calling you. She say you have to put back your plate yourself when you're done eating!"


	8. Enough

Of cause Kai does appreciate that Aichi's mother is okay with him coming over so often lately. Since he got used to this … this whole social thing, he feels like he started noticing more about other people's behaviour, started caring more about what they think. So yeah, at this point, going to school more often is inevitable.

Fortunately, today he had a rather short day. Despite everything, he still wants to get home as quickly as possible.

"Hey, Kai, don't just leave! Wait a sec, man!"

He stops in the middle of the hallway. Two boys, who walked behind him, bump into him, but he doesn't turn around to look at them or apologize. They complain, say how ruthless and rude it is to just stand there and block the whole way. Despite being able to clearly hear them, Kai fights the urge to sigh and closes his eyes. He waits.

"Ahhh, sorry. Honestly, I'm sorry for his behaviour." He feels how Miwa puts his hand on his shoulder. "This guy went through some harsh stuff and is still a bit confused. Sorry." The hand is on his back now. When Miwa bows in apology, he forces Kai to do the same.

One voice huffs and an other laughs nervously. Some steps, then Kai assumes they're gone. He opens his eyes and looks into a pair of grey ones. Miwa's eyes.

"Kai."

"What?"

"You're pretty rude."

Kai shrugs. "So what?" He knows he isn't, at least not any more, and he's pretty sure Miwa isn't serious and well.

Miwa looks at him for a moment as if he's thinking about something. When he seems to have gathered his resolve, he raises his hand and hits Kai.

"Don't get cocky." He turns around to leave and makes his way outside the building. Considering the situation, Kai sighs and waits. Just when Miwa is out of his sight, he wonders if it was worth the trouble. It's pretty unnecessary for Miwa to keep barging in and apologize, when Kai can obviously handle this on his own. Really, if he wanted to say something, he would have done this on his own. Sighing again, he finally decides to follow Miwa outside, although the other probably is on his way home already.

Well, maybe he isn't.

Miwa's there, walking more slowly than usual. Kai stops and watches his friend. In the past, he wouldn't have cared and just walked home on his own if Miwa's sulking, but as he is now, he's curious to see what Miwa's going to do. Make sure if Miwa _really_ is walking slower because he's waiting for Kai to catch up.

"What're you waiting for?" Miwa shouts over his shoulder.

Kai wants to laugh. He doesn't and instead shrugs. "Nothing, really."

As expected, although Miwa's not looking at him, he shrugs, too. They're often in situations like earlier, Miwa often call him rude (or "annoying" or "idiot" or "the most impolite asshole on this planet and the stupidest person that has ever been on the moon", although the last one kind of strikes Kai as a bit too exaggerated). But after that, the blond pretends as if nothing happened when they talk to each other again.

It's pretty much the main reason why getting insulted by Miwa doesn't even bother him in the slightest any more.

"How are piano lessons with Aichi going?"

"Yeah," he shrugs. "I still think this is a stupid project. We have to perform next week already. Can't we do something different?"

"Uhm, Kai?" Miwa raises an eyebrow and look at him intently. "That's not how this works."

He already know that of cause. There's just something, uh, something not quiet but also really relaxing when he hears Miwa say it out loud. He can't tell why, but it just is. Sometimes the things Miwa says bore him and sometimes he wants Miwa say things.

Maybe he that's just how he avoids talking about Aichi.

Being together with Aichi already drains all of his power in some way. He feel like he has to pay a lot of attention to the younger boy, worries if he doesn't, Aichi might, well, disappear again. Which bothers him in a way. In the past, Aichi was happy when Kai looked at him. But now it feels like paying attention to the boy's not enough any more. Kai doesn't like that. He doesn't know what is enough. He's not sure how to find out.

See, he pays more attention to people. Old Kai would've never noticed this. Old Kai didn't care about what Aichi thinks. New Kai worries and thinks and _is tired_.

Both old and new Kai appreciate Miwa for just being there without being complicated. He deem it necessary to tell Miwa. He knows Miwa knows.


	9. Presents

open note to everyone: don't let anyone fool you. the love live game is more addicting than it seems, i swear

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><p>This Thursday, Ren gets invited as well. To the cellar of the Sendou household where Aichi teaches Kai how to ply the piano.<p>

Aichi even brought an extra stool downstairs for him, but he prefers to stand behind them and watch them over their shoulders. It's not hard to tell that Kai's a really bad player. Well, okay, inexperienced would be the correct word to describe it, but still. Getting to say that Kai's bad at something is a pleasure he (and practically everyone else) doesn't get often enough, so he better seizes the opportunity. Right?

Aichi plays. Kai watches him and tries to repeat what Aichi did, but to be fair, fails really hard. When Kai doesn't manage to get a tone right, Aichi patiently repeats what he did. Sometimes, he gets faster, but slows down as soon as he notices Kai has trouble catching up with him.

It fits Aichi. He has a cute way of teaching and Ren enjoys watching them for a while.

It takes him five minutes to get bored. He starts pacing around the room., eats some of the sweets in his bag, then searches for some food in Kai's bag. Though he doesn't find anything decent. Only an already opened packet for chewing gum that looks about two years old. Looking at the expiration date, it might be older.

Still not properly entertained, Ren settles on the worn out couch in the room and pulls out his phone, answers some messages and then starts a game that vaguely resembles Tetris. But he quickly gets bored with that as well and flips through his other apps. That idol game Asaka and Tetsu have been playing catches his attention and he starts it. Cheerful pop music starts playing. Kai and Aichi turn around to look at him. Ren smiles sweetly.

When they realize that he's not about to do something about the music, Aichi shrugs and shoots Kai a meaningful look, before turning back to the piano. Kai hesitates, but then sighs and turns to the piano again. They don't tell Ren to stop what he's doing.

1:0 for him, huh?

The game is better than he expected. Since he doesn't have anything better to do, he plays until he runs out of LP. Without LP, he can't start another round and he frowns. Now that he has to wait until they're restored, he uses the time to work on his team's formation, but eventually turns off the game. Kai and Aichi are still not tired of playing piano.

"I'm bored."

"So what?" Kai doesn't deem it necessary to turn around, focused on the instrument. Which is pretty much bullshit, because Aichi stopped playing anyway as soon as Ren started talking. "There's nothing we can do for you."

"Yes, there _is_."

"What do you want us to do, Ren-san?" Aichi asks politely, honestly curious. He doesn't need to be this polite, but he still is. He always is. If he's honest, Ren's not sure what to think about that. He and Kai don't worry about being rude, they never did, but Aichi never says anything remotely unfriendly. It's not something that bothers Ren, just something he keeps noticing.

(Seriously, he considers just blurting out "me" at Aichi's question, but decides against it.)

"Something that's not just black and white!"

"Huh?"

"There are no grey keys on the piano!"

"Grey keys?"

"Yes! If there were three colours, I could be part of this as well." As if to stress his point, he gets up from the couch he's sitting on and squashes himself in between the other two. "I want to do something with the both of you as well. Tomorrow's my birthday after all," he smiles. Then. "You're coming, aren't you?"

"Of cause we are," Aichi promises.

"Cool. What present did you get for me?" He looks at the expectantly, waiting. But eventually, he frowns at the silence from the other two. "So?"

Aichi blushes, looking like he feels ashamed, but Kai doesn't make a face. "Nothing yet. But you're annyoing anyway, so -"

"Kai-kun, that's rude," Aichi interrupts and raises an eyebrow, frowning. "Apologize."

Kai answers with a look that is desperate, you know in the way a kid looks at his parents when it gets told to eat up. Somewhere between annoyed and indignant. It doesn't look bad, in Ren's opinion. Kai sighs, still with this pretty sour look on his face. 'Pretty' as in Kai really does look pretty like this. Mentally, Ren notes that making Aichi scold Kai is a really great thing.

"... -ry."

"What? Speak up, I can't hear what you're saying, Kaiiii."

"Sorry." Kai mumbles, a bit clearer, but not that much louder. "I guess..."

Ren grins. Easily taking one of Aichi's hands, he stares at Kai.

And waits.

Kai doesn't look bothered by it. After what feels like two or three minutes, way too long for Ren's taste, but not long enough for him to grow tired of this, he notices Kai getting nervous. Ren smiles.

"What?"

"Oh, nothing." Ren's fingers are still interlaced with Aichi's and he puts that hand on top of Kai's as he launches forward to deliver a small peck on Kai's lips. Kai barely has the time to make a surprised noise before Ren already pulls away. He turns to the other side and kisses Aichi's cheek, who immediately looks away. Then he turns back to Kai and their lips meet again. More firmly this time. When he speaks up again, it's a whisper against Kai's lips.

"I just want to be part of the fun. Let me teach you guys something for a change, huh? Like a present in advance, okay?"


	10. Angel

uhh kind of warnings for really tasteless (hints of?) asamisa and junmiwa. also, if you know me well enough, it's very predictable and i am truly sorry

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><p>If one had to guess when Ren's birthday was just by looking at his party, nobody would ever figure out that it's in December. Everything about the theme of it, starting from the decoration and ending with the food, reminds Aichi of a Halloween. Well, the kind of Halloween party people in American films celebrate, with a lot of people and loud rock music and eccentric costumes and yeah. It's just as hectic as anyone would have thought Ren's party would be.<p>

It's like pretty much every person somewhere close their age got invited. Since they were told to dress up as a card they liked, Aichi's surrounded by various mermaids, pirates and knights. While Ren himself just wears the same things he wore at the Nationals (when someone asks him why he isn't wearing a costume, he always answers with "Blaster Dark looks like me when he fights, so I dressed up as myself."), it looks like Asaka is trying to make up for Ren's lack of a costume. She looks so much like Venus Luquier, she even has a whip. Misaki, who dressed up as Amaterasu, even asked where she got that whip from, Asaka only grinned and asked if Misaki is curious enough to try it out. When Misaki shoots back whether this is supposed to be a challenge, Aichi decides he should probably leave them on their own and stay away from them for the rest of the evening if possible.

Kai's the only person that hasn't even bothered to try to find some sort of costume. He's sitting on one of the tables with Miwa, who is dressed up as "Dragon Knight Nehalem" and Jun, whose costume doesn't resemble any Unit Aichi knows, but it includes leather and a bunch of chains. Aichi has no idea if Jun and Ren actually know each other, but since the goal of this party seemed to be to invite the whole country, he tries not to worry about it.

"Ah, if that isn't Aichi," Miwa shouts about the moment he seemed to notice the boy, "don't you want to sit with us for a bit. Oh, and nice Marron costume."

Rubbing the back of his neck, Aichi slowly sits down on the free chair between Kai and Jun. "Ah, uh, thanks. So you guys came too?" A quiet silly question, but it's the first thing that came into his mind and he just blurted it out to move on with this conversation.

"Obviously," Kai mutters and yes, here's the moment Aichi starts to regret the moment he though speaking up would be a good idea.

Ironically, it's the moment Miwa decides to stomp on Kai's foot.

"Kai, that's impolite. Apologize!" But Kai just huffs and continues to scowl.

Jun laughs and turns to Aichi. "I hope you can excuse his behaviour. Miwa's trying really hard to raise this boy, but unfortunately, it's not working as well as he'd like to." He plays with the chains that he wrapped around his wrist for a bit and then, with a much lower and calmer voice, he adds, "Unfortunately, Miwa doesn't like the method I suggested to make Kai a bit more obedient."

"Ah, er, oh, aha..." Fumbling with the hem of his shirt, Aichi gets up from his seat. "Hey, I think I've seen one of my classmates over there. I think I should go over and greet them."

With an apologetic smile on his face, Miwa nods in understanding, but turns to the other two and says "You guys totally scared him away. Can't you even behave for three seconds?" when he thinks Aichi can't hear him any more.

There's no classmate he wants to greet, so Aichi just wanders through the huge party hall for a while. He didn't end up getting any present for Ren, unless you count the promise 'to take you out somewhere' he and Kai promised as a present, which it obviously isn't. Lost in thought, sometimes, when he spots someone he knows, he considers talking to them, but they're all either busy or aren't close enough to him. Sort of in the way when you know someone, but have no idea about what to talk to them besides random small talk.

Someone demanded to turn the music louder and he got to the part of the hall where most of the people are dancing to the music that blasted out of the boxes. It's way too loud here for Aichi's taste and since he's not planning to dance anyway, he turns around. Just as he starts to wonder why he didn't think of bringing Naoki and Shingo, or even Morikawa and Izaki along, someone softly taps on his shoulder. Surprised, Aichi spins around to face a hooded person who is about his height.

"Aichi-san, it's nice to meet you again." Ah, this voice does sound really familiar and, yes, Aichi knows this person, but with the loud music and the hood covering pretty much everything of their face expect for their smile, it's just really hard to tell.

"Yeah, er, uhm-"

Before he can finish what he wanted to say, the person gets down on their knees and takes Aichi's hand. Even if he has enough time to process what's happening, there was no time left for him to protest, when the person in front of him plants a soft kiss onto his hand.

And, ah yes, now, since Aichi only knows one, well okay, maybe two people who would do this kind of thing, he finally figures it out. The way the other looks up at him from below makes the hood fall back a little and when he spots the golden eyes and the blue hair, Aichi just says "Gaillard-kun", trying not to sound like he just recognized him seconds ago.

…

"Oh, uhm, Gaillard-kun."

"Yes, Aichi-san."

"You should probably get up. Please. People are looking at us."

("Oh, Aichi-kun." Of cause, that's when Ren approaches them. Really, Ren always knows the perfect time to appear to make fun of people in his own kind of way. "Ah, and Gai-chan is there as well. I'm glad you could make it as well. Sorry if I'm interrupting the two of you. Weren't the two of you about to dance?")


	11. Silver or Gold

here comes some self-indulgent gaillard. i also wanted to note that at this point, this fic has more than thousand views and i'd appreciate any kind of feedback from you guys. thanks

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><p>He couldn't help but feel lost after they returned from the moon. Not lost in this world or this city he's so familiar with.<p>

Rather lost in himself. Like Gaillard had nothing to hold onto, nothing to cling to.

When he met his siblings again, they seemed so happy, seemed like it would be all right again. They didn't notice the change or, what he tried to tell himself, didn't want to mention it. They laughed like they always do, they talked and played and were happy, smiling their golden smiles.

It was warm.

Four days after his return, he collapsed in the living room. Blacked out. Only for a minute or two, really, nothing particularly special or bad. He just hadn't eaten too much (a toast and tea for breakfast, as usual, but whatever) and his stomach had felt really bad. It got worse and then it happened, but it's nothing to worry about. His siblings called a doctor anyway.

"It's probably just the exhaustion," the doctor said after listening to his story, which is unspectacular, really. "Probably too much stress," she added after going through her notes again. "Most likely in combination with not eating enough, it lead to your break down." That adult smile. "Nothing to worry about, but I'll run some tests anyway, if you don't mind?"

He shook his head, let her check his pulse and went along with everything else, didn't mind when she gave him another appointment for a blood test and another one for an ECG.

But he still felt weird, felt as if there's nowhere he truly belonged. This life he lived, this life he let go of so easily, it felt odd, felt unreal, because reality was what happened back then with Aichi and Kai Toshiki. Right? Now he couldn't even handle seeing them on TV. It felt wrong, made him realize how far apart they were.

They were doing all right, as if nothing happened.

Gaillard felt like he was about to get crazy.

After all those tests, his doctor called him. She told him he was healthy, said he was okay. His iron reserves were empty, but that was not a big deal. "Just take some tablets and it would be fine," she said. Maybe eat a bit more meat. Or spinach. But it was nothing to worry about.

He didn't worry anyway. But he kept thinking. It's his only distraction besides spending time with his siblings or Vanguard. Things just felt wrong, unreal. He wasn't sure if he could take this any longer.

Neither did he know if he_ wanted_ to.

When the letter from Ren arrived, he felt like shouting, like dancing. Like crying. Weird, huh? Man, he's a fool, isn't he?

Making the same stupid decision twice in a row. But it's interesting right?

Now that he's in Japan, that he saw Aichi again yesterday, he thinks he can get better.

"Aichi-kun sure is amazing." Ren doesn't knock before he slams the door open, a huge and cheerful smile on his face. He obviously is the kind of person who can't even spell privacy. Fortunately, Gaillard is already dresses and ready to go out. He turns around to his host, not commenting on his sudden arrival (after all, he knows Ren from Aichi's stories, knows him from before).

"Of cause he is."

"I don't know what I would be doing without him."

"You should show more gratefulness then."

Ren grins and there's a change in his smile. It's more serious and a bit darker in some way. Though before Gaillard can properly think about, Ren talks with a deeper and smoother voice. It's a mesmerizing voice.

"So you're still Aichi-kun's _faithful knight_?", Ren spits out those last words, disgusted. "I thought even you would change at some point. A bit childish, don't you think."

"Funny to hear _you_ call someone else childish, Suzugamori Ren."

Somehow, without him noticing, Ren's suddenly really close to him. He only realizes their closeness when Ren stretches out one hand to pat his head.

"Be a good boy. I'm not letting you stay here because of sympathy." Turning around, Gaillard can see his grinning refection in one of the mirrors. "Not that I think you'd appreciate that anyway." Ren adds as he heads towards the door.

"Why are you letting me stay at your place then? I just don't get it."

Ren laughs, sweet and cheerful. Like a completely different person. "It's a secret, idiot." He looks at the flowers on the small table next to the door, leans forward to smell them, softly humming a melody Gaillard recognizes, but can't assign its name to. Then, Ren looks back at him again, one of the sweetest smiles Gaillard has ever seen on his face. "How could I show my gratefulness to Aichi-kun better than getting him a cute present?"


	12. Snow Day

Because of the cold, Aichi lends one of his jackets to Gaillard. Ren's don't fit and Aichi insists.

"You can't go outside with this," he says, pointing to Gaillard's own jacket. Sure, it's not that warm, but he can handle it. Though he doesn't want disagree with Aichi. Ren looks amused. It's not like Gaillard's doing this deliberately, but hey, it's not that bad any more.

Ren at home. He has something else to do, Ren explains, but it's obvious he want to give the two of them some time on their own. Gaillard appreciates it, since they haven't been on their own since he came here.

Well, now that he thinks about it, they have never really been alone, not just the two of them. The other knights or Kourin were always there. They were never less than three. Today they are. It's late in the afternoon and already getting dark. As the walk, more and more street lights get turned on. The red scarf Aichi wears looks pretty in this light. Gaillard's not sure what to think. Not sure what to talk about.

He can't think of anything Aichi likes, except Vanguard of cause. Was there anything they have in common? After all, Aichi only wanted him to be his knight because they didn't know each other, dumped him the moment his real friends came for him. It's not that he minds being the second choice.

It's better than being nothing at all, better than if he never got the chance to meet Aichi.

Small snowflakes tumble down around them. Gaillard knows flames and fire. They remind him of destruction, of loss and of power. Of his family and the being one of Quatre Knights.

Snow's different. Where his flames are ruthless and destructive, the snow is pure and pretty.

When he thinks about it, snow feels much warmer than the flames. If he's a flame, Aichi's snowflake for sure. Nothing that should be too close to him.

"I'm sorry, Gaillard-kun."

"Huh?" By now, they're walking through the huge market with dozens of people around them. Gaillard stops walking before he realizes. "I can't think of anything you need to apologize for."

Aichi stops as well and shakes his head, a slight but firm movement. "I think you know what I mean," it's as if he searches for something in Gaillard's eyes. Gaillard hopes they don't betray him, but he also doesn't want to lie to Aichi. Knights don't lie, so he bows his head instead, avoiding Aichi's eyes, waiting.

Nothing happens. He's not sure if he can look back up again. When he does, he sees the frown on Aichi's face. Although his cheeks are red from the cold and he's wearing a ridiculously cute jacket, the look on his face is to be taken seriously. He is serious. Gaillard sucks in a breath, waiting, curious.

"You're not saying anything, Gaillard-kun."

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because," he says, hesitating. "Because there's nothing I want to say."

"Hmm," Aichi nods, "that's very much like you, don't you think. Back then when we first met, you didn't say anything when I asked you to be my knight." Then he laughs, small white exhales of air. He can see them in the gentle light of the sunset. Soon, it's going to be dark, but the lights on the street, of the shops and cars will illuminate the night.

"There was nothing to say."

"You could have asked something at least. I expected you to be more surprised. Ren-san was shocked when I asked him and I've known him much more."

"I'm not Suzugamori Ren."

Aichi laughs again. He steps closer to Gaillard and puts his warm hand that has been in the pocket of his jacket until now, on his cold cheek. "I know. You're a knight."

"Your knight."

"Mmm, yeah." Aichi's eyes are still focused on Gaillard's. When his hand slides away from Gaillard's face and back into the pocket of his jacket, the wind and the snowflakes that hits his face feels so much colder than before. "But first of all, you're my friend."


	13. Fire(place)

Really, letting Gaillard visit Kai's school for a day is not one of the best things Aichi suggested. So they can get to know each other, since they're friends and stuff now. Well, to be more accurate, it's probably one of his worst ideas.

It starts before the first lesson even begins. Mostly because Ren's ideas are usually pretty bad and if Aichi mentions something that is already not a good idea, Ren exponentiates it with ten. _"Since Gai-kun's going to your school tomorrow, why don't you let him stay over at your place?"_ are the words the people who bury him today in the afternoon can engrave on his tombstone. Of cause, Kai shakes his head, because _wow, that dude's staying at your place and you can keep him, thank you very much_.

Has anyone ever talked about how Suzugamori Ren always ends up getting what he wants? If Kai didn't know any better, he'd assume Ren got his skyscraper simply by persuading someone to give it to him. Well, okay, he doesn't know any better, so this might be true. Not that he can be bothered to actually ask Ren.

Not after Ren pretty much threatened to let Gaillard sleep outside for this night if Kai won't take him to his place. A pretty acceptable suggestion, in Kai's opinion. But then. Although Kai doesn't like Gaillard (because he's not Aichi or not, damn it, Ren), doesn't consider Gaillard as a friend (because he's not Miwa), they are sort of not-really-friends but kind of close. Kind of.

Long story, short meaning.

Never let Olivier Gaillard into the bathroom first.

Not that he takes a certainly long time and hey, the room smells nice and it's warm. What bothers him is the fogged mirror and the really moist air that makes it annoying to breathe. The fact that Gaillard already prepared breakfast only soothes him a little. Though, seeing the receipt in the paper bag, he's not exactly pleased to know he ate pastries from the bakery Miwa took him _again_.

Their way to school is so calm, compared to what the two of them went through, it's almost boring. Just silently walking next to each other and Kai mentally cursing his life choices. It's not worth to go to school today, he isn't prepared for classes at all and probably needs to copy Miwa's homework. And to be honest, Gaillard's relaxed expression strikes him as pretty rude.

But Kai decides not to comment. He's a good person after all.

The teachers don't mind Gaillard joining the lessons for today and judging from the looks his classmates are shooting at them, they don't mind as well. Which leads to Kai's second significant problem today. While it's okay for Gaillard to be in Kai's class for a day, they don't have an extra table for him.

"I guess you don't mind sharing your desk with your friend for this lesson, Kai-kun?"

Which is the second phrase they should put on his tombstone.

They have to sit uncomfortably close to each other. See, he and Gaillard aren't real friends, because if this was Miwa, Kai probably wouldn't mind that much. Although he spends most of his time trying not to let his legs brush against Gaillard's and as result, doesn't pay that much attention to class (better than not coming at all, he tells himself), it's pretty okay.

Until fourth lesson.

Seriously, until then, he managed to act calm and collected and seem not bothered at all, but when fourth lesson starts, Kai inwardly curses.

"Bet you've been waiting for this lesson." Miwa says to Gaillard, leaning towards them. Gaillard tilts his head with just a hint of curiosity.

"Sorry, I don't understand?"

"Our French lesson is starting soon. Aren't you from, you know, France?"

Gaillard raises an eyebrow and turns to Kai. "You didn't tell me you're taking French lessons. Afraid of doing something wrong in front of me?"

"Naturally, I'm not." Kai shrugs. "Guess I forgot about that myself." Gaillard snorts at that, but doesn't have the grace to take this argument any further. Kai considers it a forfeit win.

Their teacher arrives and it's a pretty normal lesson. But it makes Kai remember how he sort of skipped most French lessons and unlike English, it's not needed that often in daily life. In other words, Kai has no clue what's going on. To the contrary, Gaillard who has been rather calm until now, mostly looking out of the window, seemingly lost in thought, looks intent. He even raised his hand a few times to answer some questions.

When they're supposed to read something in their text books, Gaillard moves his chair even closer to Kai's, so they're legs are definitely touching and oh man, Kai's not used to this. He doesn't want to get used to this either.

Gaillard puts his elbow on the desk with his chin on his hand and it's not that Kai cares, but by doing this, Gaillard leans towards him and Kai flinches away.

"Kai?" Their teacher looks at them expectantly and Gaillard looks at him, too, and now the others are looking up from their text books as well. "What's wrong?" their teacher asks in French.

Kai looks at their teacher, shakes his head, then looks at Gaillard and nods. Confused and overwhelmed by the situation, he points at the boy next to him, says "il," then stops and frowns.

Gaillard looks offended, but luckily, when he speaks up, it's in Japanese. "Are you trying to say I'm what's wrong."

"Well, I wouldn't say you are something right, so..."

"So _what_?"

"That."

"_That_ what?"

"Nobody cares, so _please_ shut up," the teacher interrupts. "Both of you._ Instantanément_."


End file.
